Michael S Devany News

NOAA announced the official launch of its 2015 Arctic hydrographic survey season took place this morning, in Kodiak, Alaska, in a World Ocean Day ceremony which showcased the deployment of the NOAA ships Rainier and Fairweather. “Most Arctic waters that are charted were surveyed with obsolete technology, with some of the information dating back to Captain Cook's voyages, long before the region was part of the United States,” said NOAA deputy under secretary for operations Vice Admiral Michael S. Devany in remarks directed to the crews of NOAA ships.

NOAA Capt. David A. Score assumed command of the agency’s Marine Operations Center-Atlantic in Norfolk, Va., which manages the day-to-day operations of the nine research and survey ships in NOAA’s Atlantic fleet. Each year these NOAA ships conduct dozens of missions to assess fish and marine mammal stocks, conduct coral reef research, collect seafloor data to update nautical charts, and explore the ocean. Capt. Score served most recently as commanding officer of NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter, which conducted key research missions during the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill response, including missions to detect subsurface oil and study marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. Score relieves Rear Adm. (select) Michael S. Devany, who has served as the center’s commanding officer since June 2009.